System and Method For Applying A Coating To A Substrate

Abstract

A process for providing a protective layer to an article. The process includes depositing a layer of material onto a surface of the article with a thermal spray process. Examples of thermal spray process include high velocity oxygen/air fuel, atmospheric plasma spray, and chemical vapor deposition. Coating methods, such as cold vapor deposition and physical vapor deposition, may also be used. The layer can then be bonded to the article by heating material in the layer adjacent its connection with the article. Bonding the layer to the article can be performed by irradiating the layer with a collimated light source, the layer irradiation can be applied concurrently with the thermal spray process

1 . A method of forming a bond comprising:
 (a) providing a body having an external layer on a surface of the body; and   (b) heating the layer with collimated light so that particles in the layer are diffusion bonded to the surface.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising applying a thermal spray to the surface to deposit the layer thereon. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the thermal spray is applied by a process selected from the list consisting of a high velocity oxygen fuel process and high velocity air fuel process. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein step (b) includes directing a laser at the metallic layer. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the steps of heating the layer with collimated light and depositing material onto the surface are performed substantially in sequence. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising applying a thermal spray to the heated and bonded metallic layer to deposit a second layer onto the surface, and heating the second metallic layer with collimated light so that particles in the second layer are bonded. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the thermal spray includes a cobalt alloy powder. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the cobalt alloy powder includes carbon; silicon; nickel; tantalum; nitrogen; manganese; chromium; molybdenum, cobalt, tungsten; and iron. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the body comprises a piston rod, the method further comprising installing the piston rod into a tensioning mechanism. 
     
     
         10 . A method of sealing an article with a protective layer, the method comprising:
 depositing a metal based layer of material onto a surface of the article using a thermal spray process; and   forming a diffusion bond between the metal based layer and the surface by heating the layer with collimated light.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising regulating the metal based layer thickness so that the heat applied from the collimated light is transferrable through the layer to the interface between the layer and the surface. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the step of depositing a metal based layer of material comprises using a process selected from the list consisting of high velocity oxygen fuel, high velocity air fuel, atmospheric plasma spray, cold spray, and physical vapor deposition. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the article comprises a portion of a riser tensioning device, the method further comprising installing the article in the tensioning device. 
     
     
         14 . A method of protecting an article comprising:
 (a) depositing a metal based layer of material onto a surface of the article using a thermal spray process; and   (b) simultaneously with step (a), heating the layer with collimated light thereby forming a diffusion bond between the metal based layer and the surface.